1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a land grid array (LGA) connector for electrically connecting a CPU to a printed circuit board, especially an LGA connector in which contacts and a housing for retaining the contacts are retained in a floating relation so that when the housing and the contacts are urged by an external device, the housing may be moved relative to the contacts.
2. The Prior Art
Land grid array (LGA) connectors are commonly used with IC packages and do not require soldering procedures during engagement between the LGA connector and a related printed circuit board (PCB). Normally, an LGA assembly includes an IC package, such as a CPU package, having a plurality of flat contact pads formed on a bottom surface thereof, a connector having an insulative housing and defining a plurality of passageways therethrough, and a plurality of conductive contacts received in the passageways of the connector. Fastening means comprises a top plate positioned on a top surface of the IC package, a bottom plate positioned on a bottom surface of the PCB, and a plurality of sets of aligned holes defined through the PCB. The fastening means is used to configure the assembly. Each set of aligned holes receives a screw therein which engages with a washer and a nut thereby sandwiching the LGA assembly between the top and bottom plates of the fastening means.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,598 discloses an electrical contact for use in a connector 30 between mutually opposed electrical interfaces 40, 99 such as contact pads respectively formed on an IC package 2 and a printed circuit board 9, as shown in FIG. 10. The conventional contact comprises a generally planar contact body 10 having first and second major faces 110, 120. The body includes a pair of spaced apart spring arms 140, 150 connected by a resilient bight portion 160. The spring arms 140, 150 each have a free end with an outwardly facing edge forming a contact nose 17, 18 for engaging with the corresponding interface 40, 99. Shorting sections 19, 20 generally extend toward each other from the free ends and are offset such that, upon deflection of the spring arms 140, 150 toward each other, the shorting sections 19, 20 overlap and the first major face 110 engages the second major face 120. Thus, a shortened electrical path is formed between the contact noses 17, 18 when the package 2 is urged against the connector 30.
With the conventional LGA connector, the shorting sections 19, 20 may not properly contact each other due to unwanted lateral deflection thereof when the bight of the contact is deformed. Moreover, an additional contact resistance exists between the shorting sections 19, 20 thereby adversely affecting the signal transmission.
Additionally, the conventional LGA connector is in advance fixed in a motherboard via screws in a pre-assembly procedure. In a final assembly procedure, the screws have to be released first and then fastened for urging the CPU to the LGA connector. Therefore, in the total assembly procedure, the screws have to be fastened, released, and fastened again. This is cumbersome and not accepted by most mother board manufacturers.
Moreover, due to a low profile requirement, the housing which receives the contacts is made thinner, and is apt to be warped. This warped housing may block some of the contacts from being effectively contacted by the IC package which urges the LGA connector. Therefore, the ineffectively contacted problem due to the warped housing is to be solved earnestly. It is requisite to provide a new LGA connector for solving the above problems.